Dick Allen

QUOTE (Marty34 @ May 7, 2014 -> 12:05 PM) I don't think Bernstein watches many games and uses his knowledge of SABRmetrics to make up for it. It makes for dumb opinions. I think this is very accurate.

QUOTE (Stan Bahnsen @ May 7, 2014 -> 11:39 AM) Doofus Bernstein just trying to stir the pot, which is his job. His complete ignorance of baseball has been obvious in previous articles. He actually mentioned White Sox and salary cap in an article last year when he was saying they would be doing things the new way in baseball. Having teams give up bad contracts, and giving the Sox prospects to take on the contracts.

QUOTE (IlliniKrush @ May 6, 2014 -> 07:57 PM) It's a long term, risky play. There's zero guarantee this turns into more revenue. When the rubber meets the road, this plan may or may not work, outside of the nice concepts of building the brand/expanding the footprint. Not sure how much excitement you will draw up in the DC area for the BT at this point. It would also be pretty embarrassing from a media angle if you have the 3rd and 4th days with lackluster crowds due to venue. Not going to build the brand there. And outside of PSU/Rutgers/Maryland? Yeah, fans are upset because it made it a lot harder/impossible to get to this tournament. 1.25K aren't showing up to every game, it's getting the other fanbases to have 5/6/7 as the weekend goes on. Not really possible in this scenario. If it was permanent, I might agree. Right now, it is just for one year. They will have no problem atrracting just as many fans. I'm sure a lot will be very interested in traveling to DC rather than Indianapolis. I'm sure there will be focus on empty seats during the preliminary rounds, but those seats are empty as it is. If it's half full on Saturday and Sunday, the experiment probably failed, but I don't think that is going to happen. I don't know how it's impossible to get to DC with an almost 3 year notice. Driving distance between Columbus OH and Washington DC-402 miles. Driving distance between Columbus OH and Chicago, IL 356 miles. Their fanbase shows up in Chicago. I think they will be able to handle the extra 46 miles.

Downs in.

Gordon Beckham is so bad. Just an awful job of managing by Ventura. He really is horrible. Figured I would get a jump on it.

QUOTE (bmags @ May 5, 2014 -> 07:04 PM) ugh, I knew this was going to happen. Nobody is going to talk me down from the ledge on this. We are going to keep getting "good reports" but a delayed time table and then suddenly we'll see "Sale out for season, getting surgery" I agree. This is far from the "he could have just skipped a start and then pitched, the DL was just extraordinary precausion" it started out as.

QUOTE (Dunt @ May 6, 2014 -> 09:38 AM) Not a chance there was 25K there last night. Place was empty. 25k is only a little more than 60% filled. I think in the middle innings it was close to that. It did look like a typical Sox game in the stands the first couple of innings and after the 7th.

I went to Wrigley last night. They said 33k but closer to 25k IMO if that, where actually there. It was so cold. One thing about USCF, those boards in the OF block some wind. Nothing to block the wind at Wrigley. My hands were frozen. I didn't anticipate needing gloves in May. One thing they don't do at Wrigley that they do at USCF now is the pat down and wand check of your being. I wonder why the Cubs don't have to do it.

QUOTE (Baron @ May 5, 2014 -> 03:14 PM) Dunn will be fine for a couple games in the OF. Its not like its the first time he's been out there. There was a reason he was moved to 1B. Unfortunately, the ball is going to find at least one of these OFs tonight. Hopefully, they are up to the task.

QUOTE (HickoryHuskers @ May 5, 2014 -> 02:19 PM) Probably not with no DH. There will be a DH Wednesday.

QUOTE (Balta1701 @ May 5, 2014 -> 01:58 PM) I really disagree with this. It's just how the White Sox have operated with Alexei, they play him non-stop. If Semien goes down to AAA and keeps playing 2b and 3b, when those positions already have Sanchez and Davidson on them, that will tell a lot more IMO. The last time the Sox had a legitimate future regular SS on their roster who wasn't the regular SS was 2008. Orlando Cabrera was the Sox SS. He made 160 starts and finished 144 games. Alexei started the other 2 at SS and finished up 16. I would think moving forward, if the Sox really think Semien is a long term option at SS, you will see him there from time to time.

QUOTE (southsider2k5 @ May 5, 2014 -> 01:51 PM) He hasn't played an inning at SS either. NO one else has played any SS besides Alexei. I don't think there is a doubt in my mind that if Alexei wasn't playing, and Conor was healthy, Gordon would play 2B, Marcus SS, and Conor 3B, with Garcia as the primary back up to the IF. You might be right, but that would be temporary. If they traded Ramirez, it wouldn't be temporary. It's kind of like having Frank Thomas play 1B during interleague. It's fine for a short stretch, you just don't want it forever. What I am saying is if the White Sox felt like they had the SS of the future on their current roster, I don't think Alexei would play every inning of every game to this point, although he has been on fire.

QUOTE (southsider2k5 @ May 5, 2014 -> 01:47 PM) There is no doubt in my mind that Marcus Semien is the White Sox SS if anything happens to Alexei Ramirez. Who else would it be? Leury Garcia. But Semien could be their temporary answer if Ramirez was hurt. But trades aren't temporary.

QUOTE (Balta1701 @ May 5, 2014 -> 01:33 PM) He's also a righty and the 3b is a lefty who has trouble hitting lefties. The current SS is a righty so it is difficult to use a platoon there with another player who also bats righty. The ideal setup this year would have been Semien starting at SS in Charlotte working to see if he could really handle the position. Alas injuries have delayed that, but it is still what should happen in a couple days when DL guys start returning. If he can't handle the position then that makes trading Alexei much tougher. It would however certainly be nice to see how he does if given that position to focus on for several months before it even becomes a reasonable option. I would agree with this. As I stated and you stated, you have to make sure he can play the position before you trade Alexei. So far, the Sox haven't tried doing that at all which to me means they either aren't going to trade Alexei or if they are, Semien doesn't appear to be their first option replacing him.

QUOTE (southsider2k5 @ May 5, 2014 -> 01:36 PM) Ramirez also hasn't played less than 156 games since 2009. I think it would be dumb to trade Alexei without a solid plan to fill the SS position. I don't think Semien is the answer there. And I believe if the Sox were thinking about trading him and putting Semien there, they would at least see what they had there before trading him, instead of trading him and hoping Semien could fill the roll.

QUOTE (southsider2k5 @ May 5, 2014 -> 01:27 PM) They worked him in at 3B because their starting 3B is on the DL. He also played 3B before Gillaspie went down.

QUOTE (Hawkfan @ May 5, 2014 -> 01:20 PM) Good fact drop! is he playing tonight? If they need a pinch hitter. No way he starts at 1B. Abreu and Dunn both would have to be out.

QUOTE (Balta1701 @ May 5, 2014 -> 01:18 PM) The alternative, as it stands now, would be Marcus Semien. Defensively, the Sox haven't even bothered. That probably tells you something right there. Although Alexei has been on fire this year, so maybe there is a slight chance they just didn't have the opportunity to put him there yet. I would think if there was any reason to think Semien was the SS of the future, the White Sox would work him in there occassionally, like they do 3B and 2B.

Supposedly there is a real possibility no college SS will be drafted in the top 250 this year. So if you are trading Alexei, you better have some sort of alternative in your system or some available option moving forward, or you could be looking at crap at SS for the White Sox for a long time.

QUOTE (PorkChopExpress @ May 5, 2014 -> 12:13 PM) Why? Why not have Dunn in LF, and use one of De Aza or Jordan Danks in CF for the two games at Wrigley? An OF of Dunn in LF, De Aza in CF and Tank in RF would have to contend for worst defensive major league OF of all-time.

QUOTE (caulfield12 @ May 5, 2014 -> 08:46 AM) Except you're dealing with multiple variables or factors. On paper, Rodon would SEEM to be the higher risk, just like all the teams assumed that Sale (or even Danish) would be. In reality, the Strasburgs/Priors/Hoffmans get hurt just as often, seemingly. Or someone like Jake Peavy, with a very violent delivery. You're not going to like my answer, but I'm going to defer to Cooper and PTAC and Schneider on this and make a calculated guess. On one hand, the almost 100% certainty that we wouldn't be able to keep Rodon after Year 6. On the other, the fact that the recent injury concern/s make Hoffman a much easier signing and allow you to allocate even more money for later selections. Of course, all things being equal, you take Rodon. But all things certainly aren't equal here. Of course, were the White Sox to select Hoffman with these recent shoulder injury concerns hanging over his head, and were he to get seriously injured within the next 12-18 months, they'd look quite stupid. And yet on some recent draft boards, he's still going in the Top 5 (Twins). At this point, I'd actually prefer to take the guessing out of it and eliminate Hoffman entirely, but we have to wait and let things play out first with the rest of his collegiate season. If you are afraid of a possible injury, that pretty much eliminates every player. Might as well sit out the draft.

QUOTE (pettie4sox @ May 5, 2014 -> 08:31 AM) I actually care about the series for two reasons. 1) I love betting scrub fans that the SOX will win it. Unfortunately, I lost a good bit of money last year but I feel I should be able to recoup some this year 2) I love seeing the scrubs suffer Scrub fans like to act like they don't care about a crosstown beat down but in reality, they do. Of course they do. If you have ever been to a Cubs/Sox game at Wrigley, when the Cubs win it is like they have just won the WS in there. Cubs fans will always tell you Sox fans care more about it than they do, but that is totally bunk. One of my greatest moments was at Wrigley with 2 Cubs fans and another Sox fan to even it out, with 2 outs in the 9th. Cubs fans standing and cheering, Dempster closing, AJP at the plate....you can put it on the board, Sox lead. Not only did the Sox take the lead, but it was AJ who did it. It couldn't have been more perfect.

QUOTE (caulfield12 @ May 5, 2014 -> 08:15 AM) Unless Hoffman becomes Verlander II and Rodon is simply another version of Francisco Liriano, tantalizingly talented, but, in the end, flawed. Hoffman has at least two more starts before the draft, the first will be this Friday, if ECU reports are accurate. Of course, there's no guarantee that Rodon/Hoffman both won't fall apart and Mr. Jackson becomes Joe Mauer Jr. with the Cubs. Then what player drafted had no injury concern? You draft the player your scouts tell you will be the best player at #3. Being afraid to draft a Scott Boras advised player with really not a lot of leverage that makes much sense is silly.

Both teams being really bad has hurt the interest. Obviously, it is nowhere near the spectacle it once was, and those 3 game weekend series were a lot fun. But both teams weren't this bad before. There is less interest in 2014 in attending any White Sox or Cubs game than there has been in many years. That, along with the jacked up pricing (at least at USCF) will keep many seats empty.

QUOTE (caulfield12 @ May 5, 2014 -> 05:57 AM) How can anyone know that before the year 2018 or 2019? Lesser ranked today by a preponderance of scouts means absolutely nothing tomorrow. There are a ton of scouts at the time of that draft who thought Mitchell had all the tools to be a wonderful player, and he'd proven it at the highest level of collegiate baseball, so it's not like he was one of the draft day wonders with a 52" vertical and 4.23 forty time for an NAIA team. Can we say that every team in baseball believes that Rodon is going to have the best pro career, yet quite a few of those teams will deliberately skip over him (including the Marlins and Astros) and take what THEY KNOW TO BE a lesser player in Aiken or Kolek? By definition, aren't the collegiate pitchers and hitters going to rank higher than the high school players, since 98% of the time collegiate players are much more polished and closer to the big league level at the time of the draft? Can you state with 100% certainty that Rodon will be a better player than either Hoffman or Jackson when looking back 5-10 years from now? Look no further than the Prior/Mauer situation. Everyone in baseball believed Prior was a once in a generation pitcher with repeatable mechanics. Or Strasburg from that draft. Or Bryce Harper. Doesn't guarantee anything. You're just as likely to end up with a talented enigma like JD Drew or Colby Rasmus as a franchise cornerstone. And even if you draft Harper/Strasburg, you can't guarantee their health. Looking at all the sliders Rodon has thrown already in his career, would you be surprised at all if he goes through TJ surgery? And for a pitcher we'll only control for six years, when you're staring right in the face losing 1 1/2 of those 6 due to surgery and recovery time, is he really the clear choice, and why is that? OK I will rephrase, you are taking a player you believe to be a lesser player. Is that OK? Every pitcher is an injury risk. Rodon may be an injury risk. Chris Sale is an injury risk. Should the Sox trade him for prospects you don't believe could be as good as him? Hoffman is clearly an injury risk. The HS guys are injury risks, let alone history of HS pitchers taken this high. They might be Doc Gooden (he had his own problems) they might be Zach Greinke (but it really took 6 years for him to establish himself as a top of the line guy, and then he gets expensive and is gone) they may be Todd Van Poppel or they may be Gavin Floyd (some scouts said he could be in a major league rotation as a HS pitcher). If the Sox pass on Rodon because of signability concerns, the advantage they gained losing 99 games last year is lost. I don't think they will pass if he is still there, but it's all probably moot as I doubt he will be there. He has been the prize since last year. He hasn't been hurt. He still should be the prize. Boras can't negotiate, and the player he is advising has very little leverage if the Sox choose to take him. He could go back to college, but that's not going to happen if he is taken 3rd.